Goodbye - Jarida
by crazejen
Summary: A oneshot written for Day Seven of Jarida Week. Doctor Who AU.


A/N: Donna and the Doctor are my OTP, it's no surprise that I used this scene. I really hated this scene. It killed me harder than anything else in the 10th Doctor's season. I cried so hard and for so long after this, I barely had the heart to continue on. So, I thought it was fitting to put it to Jack and Merida.

I'm sorry it's sad.. but I have a happier one waiting for you guys! 3  
—-

Jack looked at Merida, "Do you know what's happening?" He asked. There was so much sadness packed into his words and in his eyes as he said them. Merida looked at him, tears forming, "yeah." She said shakily.

"There's never been a human-Guardian before now. And you know why?" He said, kneeling before her with sorrowful blue eyes. "

"Because there can't be." Merida whispered, her face paling, "I want to stay!" she grasped his shirt, holding onto him as if he would vanished beneath her fingertips.

Jack sighed, this wasn't easy for him either. He hated to see the pain and desperation in the princess's eyes. "Look at me," He said, but she turned her eyes down, refusing. "Merida, look at me!" He ordered. She looked back up, now he saw why she wouldn't look at him. Her blue eyes were filled with tears, which were now running down her freckled cheeks. Jack stroked her face, wiping away a few of the tears as his throat constricted.

"I was gonna be with you. Forever," she whispered, nearly choking on a sob. Her hands tightened on his hoodie, her arms shaking with the effort of holding back tears.

"I know," he murmured, pushing her red hair from her face, gazing into her eyes as he took in every detail of her precious face.

"Rest of my life. Traveling. With you. Jack-Merida Oh my, I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Jack, please! Please don't make me go back." Her voice pitched up an octave as she spoke the last words. She knew what was running through his mind, she knew what he was thinking. She didn't want it, any of it. She just wanted to be with him, forever. But even that was fading from her sight, she could already see her life without him, and it was dull.

"Merida. Oh, Merida DunBroch." He stroked her hair, "I am so sorry. But we had the best of times. The best." He said once more for emphasis, his eyes searching her, he knew how she felt. Her heartbeat pounded under his hand which rested on her neck.

"Jack, please don't do this. You know how I feel."

"I do." Jack closed his eyes, "I'm sorry. Goodbye."

"No!" Merida screamed, gripping his arms as he pressed his hand against her head. "No! Please!" She begged, her voice rising higher and higher, echoing off the forest. "No!" She shouted one last time before becoming very still and falling against his chest, her red hair like fire against his blue hoodie.

He was quiet now. His heart cracked like the ice he had once fallen into so long ago. He felt it shatter and he fell into a black abyss of hopelessness. He allowed himself to sob into her red hair. Hair which always smelled of fresh dew and the wild wind. Hair which he would never be able to touch again.

"Goodbye."

—

Somehow, he managed to bring her back to the Castle DunBroch, and as he carried her up the stairs he could hear her father's voice. "That's her now! Merida!" He appeared with a huge smile on his face, which quickly faded as Jack said, "help me."

"Merida?"

Once they had settled her on a bed, Jack began to explain to the king and queen, "She took my powers into her own hand, but that's a Guardian's. All those powers, they were killing her." He said, running a hand through his white hair.

Fergus stared baffled, "but she'll get better now?" He asked.

Jack nodded, "I had to wipe her mind completely. Every trace of me or the Guardians. Anything we did together, everywhere we went. Had to go." He couldn't bear to look at her parents, he already knew the expressions they were wearing.

"All those wonderful things she did," Fergus whispered, sitting back in his chair. He looked drawn and tired, not like the fiery man Jack had seen many times before.

"I know. But that version of Merida is dead. 'Cause if she remembers, just for second, she'll die. You can never tell her. You can't mention me or any of it." He hesitated, glancing between the parents, "For the rest of her life." He finished. A dead silence overtook the chamber where they sat and for a long time, no one spoke.

"But the whole country's talking about it. She's traveled across the world!" Elinor suddenly said, shock still eating away at her.

Jack gave her a sympathetic look, "it'll just be a story. One of those Merida DunBroch stories, where she missed it all again."

"But she was better with you!" Fergus shouted, unable to control himself. Jack flinched, looking guilty.

"Don't say that!" Elinor bit out, glaring at her husband. "Well she was!" Fergus retorted.

Jack sighed, "I just want you to know, there are countries out there safe because of her. And there are people living in the light and singing songs of Merida DunBroch thousands of miles away. They will never forget her. While she can never remember. But for one moment, one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide world." He smiled at them, it wasn't completely forced, he was remembering all the good times they had together. All the laughs, the talks, even the fights.

"She still is," Elinor said, her brow arching, "She's my daughter."

"Then maybe you should tell her that once in awhile," Jack said in a tone that cut Elinor like a sickle. They became quiet once more, and Jack finally stood.

"I have to go." He turned. The royals watched the youth as he disappeared out of the room, out of the castle, and out of their lives, and their daughter's life, forever. The mysterious boy who showed up one day and took their daughter on a trip she would never forget. Only she had, and now, they could never tell her about the greatest thing that had ever happened in her entire life.


End file.
